1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a conductive porous ceramic tube.
2. Related Art Statement
A porous ceramic tube having conductivity according to the invention is particularly useful as a component of a solid oxide fuel cell (hereinafter referred to as "SOFC").
The solid oxide fuel cell has recently attracted attention as an extremely favorable generator device having such characteristics that power generating efficiency is high, fuel can be diversified such as naphtha, natural gas, methanol, coal reformed gas and the like, and pollution is low.
In this solid oxide fuel cell, a thin film electrode and an electrolyte as main components have no self-supporting strength, and are therefore formed on a porous support by spray coating, slurry coating and the like.
In case of forming an electrode and an electrolyte on a porous support as described above, however, there is a problem of lowering output by gas diffusion resistance of the support, and the whole construction is complicated.
Therefore, if a porous electrode itself can be used as a support instead of an electrode provided on a porous support, it is possible to simplify the whole construction, to reduce a manufacturing process, to reduce cost, and to improve the output by eliminating any loss caused by gas diffusion resistance.
However, the prior porous electrode cannot obtain sufficient strength by itself and is not suitable as a structural support material.